This President’s Day morning I was barreling through the grocery store when my cart ground to a halt. There she was. Nose buried in the cilantro. As I stood there, it occurred to me that good manners are related to good public relations. If you have bad manners, your PR and Klout scores tumble. So here are public relations tips you can practice at the grocery.

Keep your nose (and hands) out of the produce. No one wants to buy vegetables someone stuck their nose in especially during flu season. I watched a woman squeeze every piece of fruit – maybe 30 pieces – until she found one she liked. Hand sanitizer, please!

Barricade in aisle four! While you’re looking at cereal 30 feet away, your cart – smack in the middle of the aisle – is keeping the rest of us at bay. Do the PR thing and keep the cart tucked out of the way.

How much is that doggie in the bread aisle? Seriously? You brought your dog to the market? You’re ruining it for the people with real service animals. Watch out or I’ll bring my service goat.

Tap. Tap. Tap. That’s the sound my foot makes when someone writes a check at checkout. It’s bad enough they don’t have a credit card handy, but they write the check – all parts of it – AFTER the checker is done ringing everything up.

Some people…we’ll keep the names to ourselves…think they are better than the rest of us and park in front of the store. In the red zone…blocking traffic and making it hazardous for those with carts to cross to the parking lot.

Good manners are like good PR. They make it better for everyone. Happy President’s Day!